A Word About eBay's DSR/ SELLER RATINGS for all buyers to read!

HELP KEEP YOUR FAVORITE SELLERS ON EBAY!! PLEASE READ!

I have been selling on ebay for years now... what started out as an enjoyable venue to participate in has turned in to a convoluted mess of change- changes made by eBay executives out to line their pockets in an economic down turn. For you buyers out there, this doesn't affect you. Well, I guess it does- because as eBay begins to hike our fees and suspend us for low DSR's - it does affect the buyers because the cost of the products they shop for will go up, and sooner or later there will be fewer and fewer sellers to do business with.

The most recent eBay debacle is the suspension rule for low DSR's or "Detailed Seller Ratings". You- the buyers are given the option of leaving 1-5 stars as a way to rate the transaction between yourself and the seller. According to eBay, leaving a 4 for an for the description is "accurate", leaving a 4 for communication is "satisfied", leaving a 4 for shipping quickly is "quickly" and leaving a 4 for shipping/handling charges is "reasonable". Sound good to you? Well, not according to eBay. Starting November 1st 2008, all sellers with a lower than 4.3 DSR on ANY of the above categories will be suspended from eBay. So those sellers who have "Satisfied" customers, ship "quickly", describe their product "accurately" and have "reasonable" shipping & handling charges will no longer be able to sell to you, me or anyone else. So basically, giving any seller less than a 5 star rating can put that seller out of business.

If nothing else, this has all of us (sellers) in a panic. Ebay does NOT educate the buyer on the feedback system, or their rules for DSR's - I buy on eBay all the time, and I've left 4's and 5's when I've been perfectly happy with a transaction, not realizing that I'm helping put this seller out of business. It's sad- it makes no sense- if receiving 4's means you are a bad seller, then the buyers need to be made aware of this when they leave the feedback instead of being mislead by the ratings labeled as "accurate, satisfied, and reasonable" which ultimately translates to SUSPENSION.

Check out this link...
http://leavingfeedback.com/page2.html

"Unfortunately, the reality is that any rating lower than 5 's can have a significant negative impact on sellers and the eBay community as a whole because eBay has structured the system to reward sellers with over a 4.5 average, and to penalize sellers with under a 4.5 average."

I urge each of you, if you buy on eBay - please please please try to communicate with the seller if there are problems with a transaction before leaving your feedback and ratings. Keep in mind, that often times problems can be resolved and if the seller is unaware of an issue, and hasn't had the chance to refund or correct an error- your DSR rating can put them out of business.